Second Trial

[rech]

[Once everyone makes it the portrait gallery again, they will hear Randall's voice echo through the room.]

I'm not sure what everyone expected. There are a lot of children here and given the situation it was only a matter of time they started dying.

[Charming.

The floor descends once again as Randall begins his speech.]

Our tour begins here in this gallery where you gaze upon the sweet innocence of youth. Ah, but things are not always as they seem. Can it be this room is actually stretching? And notice this: this chamber has no windows and no doors, which offers you this chilling challenge… to find a way out.

Of course, there’s always my way.

[The floor stops again and doors open to the trial room.

At least the trial room doesn't look terribly different, although there are strange burn marks in the summoning circle now. And now, along with Mim, now Woody and Noby's podium has a lit candle and a voodoo doll resembling them (which is perhaps a little redundant in Woody's case).

Randall is already standing within the summoning circle, holding his stick with Facilier's head on it.]

Now then, I hope everyone has fun today.

[Trial Start]

Comments

[bestchefinparis]

...

[Well he's not wrong, but...still, there's something...]

What about a cat?

[That's the only animal he can imagine would be able to do such thing. It's a long stretch, but maybe if it was a small cat and it didn't stand on its hind legs...

And there's one around, isn't there?]

[pinkflip]

[ She wishes she could reassure Jane. She really does. ]

[not_over_yet]

Cats can scratch higher than that... [ Not discounting it though. ]

There are several cats here, I believe.

[madeofpine]

There's Figaro, but he was in my room all night. He couldn't've done it.

[upgradeit]

Cats don't usually scratch like that. They -

[Please imagine Hiro stretching his arms upward and dragging them down an imaginary couch. Dignity? He doesn't know her.]

[bestchefinparis]

I know, but...it's the only way I can think this can work. We're running in circles at this point, anything that could fit should be considered.

[Not that Rémy feels very confident about this suggestion. He's grasping at straws and he knows it]

[kickbuttseatnuts]

Same with Mew Mew. She's kinda scared of y'all.

[tanukey]

[what the heck is a cat]

[lostbutnotaboy]

If it wasn't a cat though... could it have been some other little animal?

[upgradeit]

Did - it didn't look like he fell accidentally though, did it?

[He didn't, uh. Get a great look at the body and has been checked out for several hours.]

[not_over_yet]

Perhaps trying to catch some...thing? one? [ That's kinda just down to him and Remy at this point, though... ]

...Can any of us change form?

[upgradeit]

But the walls weren't scratched, right? I dunno, if a cat were trying to scratch something I'd expect the marks to be a lot more random.

[bayoublues]

No, I...I guess not. But he could've been pushed, and then, maybe, while Noby was on his last legs, the killer decided to...um....

[not_over_yet]

...

[ Well fuck.

Finally gets out his pipe and starts pacing the top of his podium. ]

[astronomics]

With the state the area was in... do you think the killer got into a fight with Noby's pets somehow?

[pinkflip]

You're saying someone might've taken advantage of him?

[pinkflip]

Could, um... Could they have something on them? Like a scrape?

[ are we going to do another strip check.... ]

[madeofpine]

But if they did, wouldn't they have bruises an' stuff, too?

[faciliheir]

So, now somebody fought the rock.

[upgradeit]

[He's been marking his map with all the locations of clues people have found and is staring down at it.]

. . . Okay, someone who saw the claw marks and actually looked at them this might sound weird but . . . did they even seem like an animal made them? Because I dunno - it feels like a weird red herring.

[astronomics]

A scrape or a bruise or something.

Unless this was an accident, and they'd like to do the right thing and step forward on their own.

[bayoublues]

Well, um, I guess? I'm just puttin' out ideas. I-I mean, I guess if we think about a kid havin' done it, then...then it doesn't make much sense, does it?

[astronomics]

That's the idea.

[astronomics]

Something more than just an accidental push down the stairs happened in there.

Mods?

[kickbuttseatnuts]

...I'm a bit of an animal expert myself. I could probably ballpark it.

[She closes her eyes to try and remember what what it looked like.]